Organizers launch bid to recall embattled L.A. City Councilmember Kevin de León
A.M.O. organizers are launching a recall campaign to recall Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León. (Courtesy of Citywide Organizing)
A.M.O. organizers are launching a recall campaign to recall Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León, who was charged last week with 11 felonies in a scheme in which he was allegedly using a personal loan to fund his campaign.
De León was charged by a Santa Monica grand jury on Thursday with 11 felonies related to his use of a personal loan to fund his campaign, which also involved the purchase of a home owned by the councilmember’s brother, whose wife owned a home in California, according to a Los Angeles Police Department news release. Among the felonies is one count of voter fraud.
To recall de León from office, the group needs about 600,000 signatures, which the city clerk’s office said it’s reviewing. The recall effort does not seek a recall of de León or his brother, but only wants to remove his elected seat from the City Council, according to Sean Anderson of the Associated Press.
De León’s office said that he is considering his next move as the police probe unfolds.
The recall filing was scheduled for publication Thursday evening.
In a Facebook post, de León called the allegations “baseless and outrageous,” adding:
At this point, the facts as described in the police report and testimony presented to the grand jury are simply not sufficient to form an indictment. I have always maintained that the allegations against me are completely false.
The recall filing comes after de León’s campaign manager was arrested Tuesday on voter fraud charges, the day after his opponent, former City Councilmember Jan Perry, filed paperwork with the state Board of Elections to run as a write-in candidate for mayor.
In the police report, authorities said that de León and his campaign’s treasurer, Mark Tauscher, purchased a home in Pacific Palisades for $9.8 million in August, using a “personal line of credit” from the campaign treasurer. The purchase was made in a time period when de León was serving as the district attorney of Los Angeles County, the report said.
Investigators allege that de León